forever restless
FUCK AGE STEREOTYPES
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colo phon WESTWOOD 10009 Abbey Road, London NW6 4DN, UK info@westwoodmag.co.uk www.westwoodmag.co.uk
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Vivienne Westwood
DESIGN AND ART DIRECTION Pauline Korp Annelies Carnoy Laura Vereertbrugghen Netta Szabo SUBSCRIBE westwoodmag.co.uk/subscription COMPATIBLE APP Westwood Magazine App available in the App Store You ca n’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old. There are women who get by aging as a tragedy, but there is also a not so rare race of the rebellious, brave and forever restless women who still enjoy life at max speed not only in their 20s. Westwood is the best excuse to live and share your own story.
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EDITORS Pauline Korp Annelies Carnoy Laura Vereertbrugghen Netta Szabo
FASHION IS ABOUT SEX TOPLIST We’ve made a selection of the most inspiring 8-9 STREETFASHION On the streets of Bournemouth 14-15 EYE CANDY Scratch and see what you’ll reveal 22-25 RUTH WESTHEIMER What she have learned about sex 26
I CAN'T THINK WITHOUT MY GLASSES 2
ELDERLY STREET ARTISTS IN PORTUGAL Elderly street artist destroy age stereotypes. 36-37
FEATURES Exclusive interviews, true stories and all the things we could find you to read about this summer.
A TRUE FASHION REVOLUTION: INTERVIEW WITH CARRY SOMERS After the Rana Plaza disaster, everywhere I looked, there were newspaper articles calling for a more ethical fashion industry. All of us within ethical fashion circles wondered how we could channel the energy and momentum.
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SELF-ADJUSTABLE GLASSES There is a very large and currently unmet need for corrective eyewear throughout the developing world. Adspecs has worked on this problem since 1966 investigating novel strategies which may prove effective as part of a solution. 14-15
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IT'S A PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE INTERIOR A guide to the homes of our muses 46-49 Paul Klee inspired chest of drawers 50-51 TRAVEL Why you’re never too old to travel 1O-13 DRIVING JJ and Matilda, introducing alternative transportation 56-59
YOU CAN'T THROW AWAY TRADITION What kind of craziness comes your way in the summer. 62-63
OLD IS THE NEW YOUNG: RUTH FLOWERS A.K.A DJ MAMMY ROCK The eighty year old Deejane from Bristol is considered a role model, a fasion icon and glamour icon. 30-35
ON BEYOND 100 Will becoming a hundred years old be the standard or is that too optimistic? If it depends on science this will be a minimum. 38-43
BADASS STORIES A place where you can share your own experiences with the badass elderly among us, or share your own adventures. This is as amusing as it gets. 65
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HOROSCOPE
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editor
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People k now what’s goin g on. The general public do not trust the current economic system and they don’t believe that official figures bear relation to the reality. They know by experience that things are getting worse. The cost of living increases continually. And they care very much about the environment. Public opinion is not reflected in the press. I know this because I talk with people. I am an activist. People ask me what to do. I have decided the best advice is to Vote Green. The other parties are all
the same. I call them the bloc. A Green vote is the only non-wasted vote. The Green Party are against austerity, against fracking and pro-community. Starting from this platform we could build a true economy based on rea l hum a n v a l u e s. I am investing in the Green Party because I believe it is in the best interests of our country and our economy. I hope that by example other individuals and businesses will follow suit. If we get behind this we can make a real difference and the time is now!� VIV
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FASHION IS ABOUT SEX 7
In this juicy section of our magazine we aim to blow your mind away. Prepare for the most recent cool stuff for your wardrobe. And don’t forget to buy it green!
YOKO ONO
In the final paragraph of her memoir, Girl in a Band, Kim Gordon details a makeout session with a man who is most certainly not Thurston Moore. Emergency brake pulled, the two sat in front of a house on a hill that Gordon had rented in LA for several weeks last year while getting back to her visual art roots in a post-Sonic Youth, post-Thurston world. The anecdote starts kind of bumpy because it is apropos of nothing, but it ends somewhere fitting — hopeful, even. “I know: it sounds like I’m someone else entirely now,” she writes after pulling away from this man’s “full-on grope” for reasons of practicality, “and I guess I am.”
She may be 82 years old, but Yoko Ono is shooting up the dance charts with an EDM reworking of her 1973 song, “Woman Power.” Remixed by DJ/ Producer Alyson Calagna, “Woman Power” (Alyson Calagna Vocal Mix) is currently #13 position on the Billboard Dance Club Songs charts. The original version of the track, which featured the late John Lennon on guitar, appeared on Ono’s fourth record Feeling the Space. Recorded for Apple Records, Feeling the Space was Ono’s final official release of the 1970s. The feminist anthem, features the lyrics: “You’ve heard of Woman Nation/Well, that’s coming, baby/ What we need is the power of trust/It’s coming.”
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05 strong, bold, inspiring women of a certain age
KIM GORDON
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SIOUXSIE SIOUX
PATTI SMITH
Most “It” girls fade into obscurity well before their first wrinkle. Not Iris Apfel, the textile maven with the unmistakable owl frames. She found fame in her mid-’80s, when the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art showed her wardrobe in an exhibit called Rara Avid (Rare Bird): The Irreverent Iris Apfel. Apfel has created a handbag collection and a limited-edition makeup line for M.A.C.; she’s designed glasses for Eyebobs and several jewelry collections for HSN and YOOX; she’s acted as a visiting professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Now 93, she’s the subject of the late Albert Maysles’s documentary Iris, which is in theaters this week.
Post-punk icons Siouxsie And The Banshees nearly split in the late ’80s. Siouxsie is the frail-faced, tough-minded, strange-light-in-her-eyes voice/ performer of Siouxsie and the Banshees. When she was a little girl … “I was very lonely, actually. The few friends I had were gypsies. When I was eight I tried to commit suicide to get noticed by my parents. I used to do things like fall on the floor upstairs so that they’d think I’d fallen downstairs, and I’d have bottles of pills in my hands. I’ve always felt on the outside, really.” She, like the rest of the group, admits to being a loner. They don’t really like people. A thing they have in common.
Patti Smith was, and is, pure experience . . . Her reign in the ’70s as a street-hot rock & roll messiah seemed to exist from a void. No past, no future—”the future is here,” she’d sing. I’d hear tales of romance, the girl with the blackest hair hanging out at recording sessions writing poetry. But I didn’t know her. I could only embrace the identity I perceived. I was impressionable and she came on like an alien. The first time I met her was in 1975 in a magazine. It was two poems about three wishes: rock & roll, sex, and New York City. Her photo was stark—no disco color flash. It was anti-glam, nocturnal staring eyes, black leather trousers. She was skinny and smart. She posed as if she were the coolest boy in the city.
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IRIS APFEL
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A True Fashion Revolution by Bruno Peiters interview with CARRY SOMERS
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A PIONEER IN FAIR TRADE FASHION, CARRY SOMERS ESTABLISHED HER BRAND PACHACUTI IN 1992 AFTER A MASTERS DEGREE IN NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES. PACHACUTI IS NOW RECOGNISED AS ONE OF THE WORLD’S FOREMOST ETHICAL FASHION BRANDS: THEIR COLLECTIONS OF HATS, FASCINATORS AND BEACH BAGS ARE SHOWN AT LONDON AND PARIS FASHION WEEKS AND STOCKED AROUND THE WORLD, PROVIDING SUSTAINABLE RURAL LIVELIHOODS FOR WOMEN’S ASSOCIATIONS IN THE ECUADORIAN ANDES. SINCE BECOMING THE FIRST COMPANY
BP. HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA OF C R E ATING A FASHION REVOLUTION DAY?
BP. DO YOU THINK ONE DAY WE WILL LOOK BACK ON THIS DAY AND SAY, THAT IS WHAT IT TOOK FOR THE WORLD TO WAKE UP? DO YOU THINK THIS IS IT? CS. Similar disasters have had a longreaching effect. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in 1911 in New York where 146 people died helped to solidify support for workers’ unions like the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union and led to widespread reform. In less than a year, Fashion Revolution has become a worldwide movement, now in almost 60 countries. On 24 April, people around the world, high street shops a nd high couture, cotton farmers a nd factory workers, and anyone who cares about what they wear – will come together to call for change. It is a global platform which we can all use
to ask questions, raise standards and set an industry-wide example of what better looks like. By celebrating best practice, we can change lives.
BP. WHAT HELPS YOU TO KEEP GOING AND DOING WHAT YOU DO? CS. My staff and my husband, Mark, have been a fantastic support and are running Pachacuti for me. Other than designing the SS15 collection, I have been able to focus solely on Fashion Revolution Day. I am working incredibly long hours on Fashion Revolution, but the messages of support we are receiving from people and organisations around the world, news of events taking place from Kathmandu to Barcelona, and the positive response from the press have all been a constant source of e nc o u r a g e m e nt a n d motivation. BP. WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE WITH FASHION REVOLUTION DAY? CS. This year we are a skin g the question Who Made Your Clothes? This should be a simple question, but a recent Australian Fashion Report found that 61%
of brands didn’t know where their garments were made and 93% didn’t know where the raw materials came from. We need to re-establish the broken connections in the supply chain because greater tra nsparency is a prerequisite to improving conditions. Long term, we have 4 objectives which we will work to achieve: 1. Raise awareness of the true cost of fashion and its impact at every stage in the process of production and consumption. 2. S h o w t he w orld that change is possible through celebrating those involved in creating a more sustainable future. 3. Bring people together the length of the value chain to communicate: to ask questions and share best practice. 4. Work towards longt e r m i n d u s t r y- w id e change and get consensus from the entire supply chain a rou nd what changes need to happen.
BP. WILL THIS BE AN ANNUAL EVENT. C S. Ye s. O nc e t h i s year’s events are over (we have several events spreadi n g i nto May, at the House of Lords a nd SHOWStudio, for
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CS. After the Rana Plaza disaster, everywhere I looked, there were newspaper articles calling for a more ethical fashion industry. All of us within ethical fashion circles wondered how we could channel the energy and momentum.. The Rana Plaza catastrophe was a metaphorical call to arms. The idea for Fashion Revolution Day literally dropped into my head in the bath a few days after the 24th AprilI could so easily have stayed soaking in my hot bath and ignored the idea, but it seemed like a good enough idea to act on. I reluctantly got out of the bath and emailed the most obvious person I could think of to run past this idea, Orsola de Castro, cofounder of Estethica at London Fashion Week and co-founder of From Somewhere. The next morning, having received Orsola’s enthusiastic response, Lucy Siegle, who writes the Ethical Living column for the Observer, phoned me and she was equally convinced that an annual Fashion Revolution Day was exactly what was needed to channel
current concern into a longstanding campaign so that the victims of Rana Plaza and all the other tragedies that have occurred in the na me of fashion will never be forgotten. Fashion Revolution Day would be the impetus to bring about real change in the industry.
instance) we will collaboratively decide on a theme for next year. We are initially planning for the next five years.
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B P. W H A T I S Y O U R OPINION ON THE FASHION INDUSTRY TODAY? CS. T he majority of the fashion industry is burying its head in the sand. As a global movement, we can bring the message straight from the cotton farmer, the mill dyer, the knitter, the weaver, the seamstress directly to the consumer, to show the truth, to show where change needs to happen, and how we, as consumers, can make a difference. For real change to happen, every part of the supply chain has to make a commitment to change, and that includes us.
BP. WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT FASHION? CS. I love the artisanship around fashion, beautifully made garments, embroidery, one-of-a-kind pieces. I like expressing my individuality through what I wear, which is why I rarely shop on the High Street, and am always seeking out vintage ‘50s print dresses.
BP. DO YOU BE LIEV E THAT HIGH FASHION IS MORE ETHICAL THAN HIGH STREET FASHION TODAY? CS. I believe that there are exemplary brands in
both High Fashion and on the High Street. There are also brands in both sectors who are slowly embracing sustainability and others who are doing very little.
BP. HOW CAN WE BE SURE A PRODUCT IS ETHICAL? WHAT DO WE NEED? CS. This is the question I keep being asked and there is not one easy answer. We are asking people to Find Out, Be Curious and Do Something About It. We have a fantastic ethical fashion trump card game onine, where you can rate the clothes in your wardrobe against that of your friends on the website. The cards can be downloaded here fashionrevolution.org We also have a host of other Resources on our website under Further Reading. Ethical Consumer will shortly be coming out with a product guide to rate the ethical and environmental track record of the UK’s main high street clothing companies, so that will be a great resource.
BP. DO YOU THINK THE FASHION R E VOLU TION DAY CA N H E L P M A K E THE PUBLIC UNDERSTAND T H AT T H E Y A R E NO T THE PROBLEM BUT THEY CAN BE A PART OF THE SOLUTION? CS. Fashion Revolution Day gives everyone – w h e r e v e r t h e y a r e, whoever they are and whatever they’re wearing – the opportunity to show their support for better connections and transparency across the fashion supply chain by making the simple gesture of turning an item of clothing #insideout on the day. Consuming is about fulfilling needs: and one of our key needs is the need to belong. I believe that our need to belong within society ca n be satisfied not just through buying beautiful fashion, but also by building connections with the wider community of the people who made these clothes. Designers can meet human needs by offering fashion with emotional significance. By telling the story behind a garment or inviting the customer to be part of the design process, our need for of creativity, identity and participation ca n be satisfied. Consumer demand can revolutionise the way fashion works as an industry. If everyone started to understand that they can be part of the solution, we’d see
a radically different fashion paradigm.
BP. WHAT WILL HAPPEN ON THE 24TH OF APRIL? CS. Events all around the world, from a catwalk show through the centre of Barcelona, to a workshop in Kathmandu on responsible practices in small and medium dye houses. In London, we have events happening on and around the day from Somerset House to the House of Lords.
BP. THANK YOU FOR THIS INTERVIEW.
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Vivienne Westwood
streetfashion One afternoon we’ve gone out to the street of Bournemouth and look what we’ve found. A nice amount of rebellious gals.
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Shop their fine taste in clothes right now with our app!
Amber, 74 and Alice, 69
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Brittany, 71
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S E L F - A DJ U S T I B L E G L A S S E S
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To Western eyes, Joshua Silver’s round-lensed glasses may make him look a little owlish, but in developing countries where optometrists and prescription lenses are rare, they could be a sight for a million, maybe even a billion, sore eyes.
S E L F - A DJ U S T I B L E G L A S S E S
To Western eyes, Joshua Silver’s round-lensed glasses may make him look a little owlish, but in developing countries where optometrists and prescription lenses are rare, they could be a sight for a million, maybe even a billion, sore eyes. Silver, 54, an atomic physicist at Oxford University in England, has invented a pair of spectacles a user can adjust him or herself according to the type of vision correction needed, thus eliminating the need for eye examinations and lens-grinding. “In America you take for granted getting glasses in drug stores and shopping malls, sometimes within an hour,” says Silver. “But that is hardly the case in the developing world.”
correction. Before his glasses became available, other Third World approaches included distributing second-hand glasses. But sorting through the lenses, giving them out and providing examinations still required significant manpower, explains Silver. For the past four years, he and a team have performed field tests of his glasses in South Africa and Ghana with some 300 people, with funding from the British government’s Department of International Development and other sources. A trained person gave eye exams to the locals and explained to the users how the glasses work. “People are capable of setting their own power of the lens with reasonable accuracy,” Silver says. Next, his company is planning a trial of a few hundred people to monitor how they work over a period of time.
BRINGS LIFE INTO FOCUS
GHANA INTERESTED
Within two minutes, a wearer of Silver’s glasses can bring each eye into focus on near or distant objects, by adding or subtracting the amount of silicon oil held in a thin reservoir sandwiched between the plastic lenses. Once focused, the user cuts off the oil supply and the glasses are set for seeing. These adjustable specs can help about 90 percent of the population needing vision correction, he says.But while many eye-care experts and the British government support Silver’s effort, some say getting his product to the developing world at a reasonable cost will not be easy. Others worry his glasses may actually increase the chance of debilitating eye diseases, such as river blindness, since the wearers would require fewer examinations.
The government of Ghana was so impressed with the do-it-yourself specs, they plan to order almost 100,000 over the next several years to help support literacy programs in communities and villages, Silver says. The problem with those programs in Ghana, says Agnes Ado-Mensah, a Ghanaian who has studied them, is that 20 percent of the learners cannot see well, and so, drop out. “Joshua’s innovative spectacles have been identified by the Ministry of Education as more appropriate and affordable to the learners with eyesight problems involved in the literacy program,” Ado-Mensah says.
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SELF-ADJUSTABLE GLASSES FOR THIRD WORLD
VISION WITHOUT NEED FOR PROFESSIONALS Silver started his own company, called Adaptive Eyecare in 1996 to manufacture and market the glasses. With them, he says, residents of remote villages would not have to travel to regional hospitals or clinics for glasses if a distribution system was set up. The glasses could provide vision correction for near- and far-sightedness at plus or minus six diopters — a wide range of lens curvature for vision
NEW TECHNOLOGY IN THIRD WORLD HARD The need for vision correction in the developing world is “profound,” says Jay Enochs, emeritus dean of the School of Optometry at the University of California in Berkeley, who has attempted to bring a simple, low-vision test to India.But adopting a new technology is never easy, he says. “The invention of a test, a new device, a treatment or a surgery is a big step,” Enochs says. “But it is only the very, very first step.” Victoria Sheffield, spokeswoman for the International Eye Foundation, Md., applauds the invention, →
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Fluid-filled variable focus lens
Pump Adjustment wheel
Sealing valve
S E L F - A DJ U S T I B L E G L A S S E S
but wonders how the $12 to $15 wholesale price will be affordable to the poor in the Third World. Moreover, money spent on distributing the glasses may take away from funds used to treat glaucoma, cataracts and other eye afflictions.
PRICES WILL GO DOWN IN TIME Silver says his initial price may be high, as with all new technologies, but with improvements in production and efficiency in manufacturing, he expects the prices can be brought down to $1 to $2 over time. His company, which has a small plant in London, is seeking funding to help step-up production. Moreover, he says the glasses should not be a replacement for eye care, but are a better solution than nothing for the estimated hundreds of millions of people in the developing world who need vision correction. On Dec. 14, 1999, Prime Minister Tony Blair recognized the glasses among 1,000 other innovative technologies new for the millennium. Silver developed the prototype for the lenses over a period of almost 15 years tinkering around in his laboratory, he says. He still carries them around with him for show and tell.
TO KNOW MORE www.adlens.com
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BUY ONE GIVE ONE He has other products in the works for Westernmarkets too, such as glasses that can change for baby boomers’ weakening eyes as they move from computer to television screen. “Americans would probably be willing to pay a good price for their convenience,” Silver says.
Adlens® donates a pair of glasses when you purchase any of our Fluid-Injection Glasses.
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Ruth Westheimer:
Her lessons through the years: Skiers make the best lovers because they don't sit in front of a television like couch potatoes. They take a risk and they wiggle their behinds. They also meet new people on the ski lift. A lesson taught with humor is a lesson retained.
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It's not a competition. No penis can duplicate the vibrations of the vibrator. And no vibrator can replace a penis. There will never be a day when there is no such thing as prostitution. Quote me: I would like to see prostitution legalized. The time has come when women should pay for a gigolo. Why should only rich men have young, beautiful women? Rich women should have young, beautiful men.
The sex expert on matters from prostitution to male cameltoe. Plus: Her unlikely start as an Israeli sniper.
In the Jewish tradition of the Bible it says, "Speak to her softly, so that she will want to engage in sexual activity." In today's world, there's a little bit of a danger in that people don't really talk to each other. You see couples walking in the street, each one of them texting someone else. That worries me. It's pornography for me only when it involves violence or children. I'm never embarrassed to say, "I don't know."
ELISE™ 2
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With dual-motors of supreme power and a deeply fulfilling length, this iconic LELO targets your pleasure centers for the most intense, deep-reaching, body-shaking sensations you’ll ever experience
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You should welcome getting older in golf. With greater knowledge of your swing, you, too, can keep improving.
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I CAN’T THINK WITHOUT MY GLASSES
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O L D I S T H E N E W YO U N G
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R U T H F L O W E R S, was the matriarch and the hippest English deejay of our time. The woman known as MAMY ROCK was still rocking the planet at the age of 82 as the latest sensation of the world club scene.
a portrait of Ruth Flowers a.k.a DJ Mammy Rock
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old is the new young
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“EVERYTHING BEGAN THE NIGHT, WHEN MY GRANDSON, WHOM I’M VERY CLOSE TO, CELEBRATED HIS BIRTHDAY AT A DISCO IN LONDON. HE INVITED ME TO JOIN HIM AND HIS FRIENDS. WHEN I ARRIVED THE DOORMEN WOULDN’T ALLOW ME INSIDE. ITS TRUE, I DIDN’T LOOK LIKE THEIR USUAL CUSTOMER (LAUGHS)... I DID GET IN EVENTUALLY... ONLY TO BE DUMBFOUNDED...THERE WAS SUCH AN ELECTRIC ATMOSPHERE! IT WAS SO DIFFERENT FROM THE DANCES & THE BANDS I USED TO GO TO WHEN I WAS YOUNGER. THERE WAS A REAL OSMOSIS BETWEEN THE MUSIC AND THE LIGHTS, IT ENERGIZED ME!...MADE ME FEEL SO MUCH YOUNGER!
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That night shattered my view of things, especially the way I saw my life...I had a lot of free time...I discussed my idea with my grandson, he thought I’d gone mad. Sometime after our talk, an acquaintance put me in touch with a young French producer, Orel Simon. I told him my idea and he took on the challenge. I wasn’t sure about it working but was prepared to give it a go, Orel was convinced and he took me with him. Since then I have made many trips around the planet, met quite a number of D.J.s. Orel introduced me to electro and house music. I went to clubs and been practicing a lot with the new machines. It was really fun!! Now I know I can make everybody move their ass on the dance floor (laughs)...»
Previously, she entertained elite g uests including Joh n ny Depp and Vanessa Paradis at the Karl Lagerfeld Chanel Party in the VIP Room at the Cannes Film Festival.
Whoever said you have to mellow with age? Certainly not Mamy Rock, who gives retirement a big kick in the pants ! She was an unusual and charismatic woman who with great serenity presents her unique and dynamic personality. Nice and eccentric, strong and full of energy, she loved to have fun and share the good times with all around her. Everyone loves Ruth Flowers: the trendiest clubs on the planet, all had their sights on this DJ with a difference, who inspires the young while encouraging respect of senior citizens. On Youtube her
More tha n mere DJ sets, Ruth Flower’s mixes were fabulous shows bringing together the latest electro-hits that all the club‐kids love as well as the old school classics she adores. Ruth Flowers is a unique opportunity to meet an Artist who spins stereotypes about old people, but also the DJ world on their head. « …Indeed, I’d rather sign a contract with a record company than sign up to a nursing home! » says Ruth Flowers For a 69-year-old woman, Ruth Flowers certainly knows how to pa rty. In the past week, the British DJ, also known as Mamy Rock, has taken no less than six flights, and DJ’d almost every night. She hasn’t had a weekend off in nearly two months, and when she speaks to me from her hotel in Italy, has a slight croak in her voice. “I’ve got a terrible cold, and I could do with being in my bed,” she tells me. “But I’m sure once I get on stage in a few hours, I’ll be back in the mood. I’m just lacking a bit of my usual energy, that’s all.”
Flowers, originally from Bristol, first developed an interest in becoming a disc jockey in 2005. It was her grandson’s birthday, and rather than simply popping round to wish him happy returns over a cup of tea, Flowers decided to join him at a London nightclub. After fighting her way past a rather incredulous bouncer - “This fellow outside the door said ‘You don’t want to go in there, madam’ and I told him, ‘Yes I jolly well do, it’s my grandson’s birthday!’” she fell in love with what she saw.
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The European Press has declared the 80 Yea r old Deeja ne from Bristol a role model, but also as a fashion and glamour icon. Adidas Originals along with the famous Marangoni Fashion Institute invited the coolest Granny on the planet to rock their 75th anniversary party in Milan.
videos have reached more than 4 Million visitors and the French TV Canal said that « she played like the Queen of the Night! ».
“It was frightfully noisy of course, and there were all these lights flashing,” Flowers remembers, “but what I realised was that these young people were just having so much fun. So I said to my grandson, ‘You know what darling, I could arrange things like this, for the local kids.’ And he said he thought that would be very cool.”
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Soon after, Flowers met Aurelien Simon, a French music producer, who suggested to her the idea of becoming an elderly DJ. “To be honest, I just thought that was the craziest thing I’d ever heard. But what did I have to lose?” Fast forward five years, and Flowers is now a regular feature on the European club circuit. She still has a home in Bristol, but life is increasingly lived on the road, in planes, and in a variety of what she refers to proudly as “rather nice hotels”. In the past few weeks, she has zipped between Belgium, France, Italy and Austria and will add several more countries to that list before the month is out. Though she has never cracked her home market (“They don’t seem to want me in the UK, do they?”) she has been overwhelmed by how positive the reaction has been to her elsewhere. “I don’t know why they make such a fuss of me, but it’s like adoration,” she tells me, with a touch of bemusement but considerably more delight in her voice. “It’s all photograph, photograph, kissy kiss kissy. They try to hug me, they tell me they want me to be their grandma, they even throw roses at me - which let me tell you, is quite amazing for a woman of my age!” Does she find the travel tiring? “I do, but it’s wonderful to see all these different countries. I expect I’ve got friends who think I’m quite insane but they can do what they wish, and I’ll do what I wish. If you can’t do what you want to at my age, when can you?” Flowers’ taste in music errs on the old-fashioned - “I love Queen and Freddie Mercury, Mick Jagger, the oldies” - but she intersperses her personal favourites with more contemporary electro-rock. She thinks this eclectic mix is probably part of her appeal. “You know, I have to be honest, I knew nothing about electro-rock when I started, but it’s what the young people want, and I give it to them,”
she reflects. “I’ve learned the job like a parrot.” Her appeal is undoubtedly strengthened by her rather extraordinary appearance. On any given day, the DJ will sport a combination of what she calls “glamorous sports gear”, statement jewellery and oversized sunglasses, topped off by her crest of spiky silver hair. When she’s in the clubs, she likes to add diamante headphones. I ask if this look was a marketing decision rather than a reflection of her personal taste. “At the start, it was definitely more what more the stylists wanted,” she concedes, “but I get much more of my own choice now. I have my own ideas, and I like to wear what I want.” Flowers is quick to dismiss any suggestion that her career as a disc jockey has rescued her from a life of knitting and Women’s Institute cake sales, but admits that her new role perhaps suits her more than anything she has done before. As she recounts to me her colourful career history (village shop owner, fabric shop owner and trainee drama teacher, the last only until she realised she didn’t want to teach “little toads with no interest in what I was doing”), one gets the impression of a woman who can easily be bored. She’s used to being based abroad, having spent a decade living the retired life with her late husband in Portugal; a place she at first found very tedious. She ended up running singing and theatre groups to keep her occupied, and proudly tells me she directed the first English pantomime in the Algarve. “I’ve done what I wanted with my life, but life does take its turns. Becoming a DJ is certainly one of the best things I’ve ever done.” Flowers’ managers now plan to break her into the American and maybe even Asian, markets, but it seems that she still cherishes a slight hope of making it big in her own county. This year, she had her first UK performance at Glastonbury, which she describes as “wonderful” and hopes to do it again. Right now, however, she is concentrating on something rather more short-term than global domination: getting rid of her cold. “I’m going to have a little sleep, and try to recuperate before I go onstage,” she tells me as we finish up. “Have a nice night.” Nice as it may be, I have a sneaking suspicion that Ms Flowers’s evening might be rather more exciting than mine.
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t e e r t S y l r e e d l l g E a A g e y u o t m r r o t o s s P e e Aw sts D es In i p t r y t A o e r e t S
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gloves and finding them free spots in the city to tag up and paint! It all begins with workshops, where the students learn about the history of street art and get to create their own stencils. They then find run-down parts of the city to jazz up with colorful tags and stencil art.
www.woolfest.org
According to the organization’s Facebook, their goal is to connect older and younger generations through art, to help the elderly engage in new forms of contemporary art and, most importantly, to let them have fun. Looks like they’re doing a good job!
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Graffiti and street art have both often served to deepen the rift of misunderstanding between young and old, but there’s one art organization in Lisbon, Portugal that’s working to change that. LATA 65 works to destroy age stereotypes a nd turn senior citizens into street artists by providing them with spray paint cans, masks and
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On Beyond 100
Could similar processes be at work in humans? Could genetic anomalies protect against diseases of age?
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O N B E YO N D 1 0 0
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On a crisp January morning, with snow topping the distant Aspromonte mountains and oranges ripening on the nearby trees, Giuseppe Passarino guided his silver minivan up a curving mountain road into the hinterlands of Calabria, mainland Italy’s southernmost region. As the road climbed through fruit and olive groves, Passarino, a geneticist at the University of Calabria, chatted with his colleague Maurizio Berardelli, a geriatrician. They were headed for the small village of Molochio, which had the distinction of numbering fou r centena ria ns—a nd four 99-year-olds—among its 2,000 inhabitants. Soon after, they found Salvatore Caruso warming his 106-year-old bones in front of a roaring fire in his home on the outskirts of the town. Known in local dialect as “U’ Raggiuneri,” the Accountant, Caruso was calmly reading an article about the end of the world in an Italian version of a supermarket tabloid. A framed copy of his birth record, dated November 2, 1905, stood on the fireplace mantle. Caruso told the researchers he was in good health, and his memory seemed prodigiously intact. He recalled the death of his father in 1913, when Salvatore was a schoolboy; how his mother and brother had nearly died during the great influenza pandemic of 1918-19; how he’d been dismissed from his army unit in 1925 after accidentally falling and breaking his leg in two places. When Berardelli leaned forward and asked Caruso how he had achieved his remarkable longevity, the centenarian said with an impish smile, “No Bacco, no tabacco, no Venere—No drinking, no smoking, no women.” He added that he’d eaten mostly figs and beans while growing up and hardly ever any red meat. Passarino and Berardelli heard
much the same story from 103-yearold Domenico Romeo—who described his diet as “poco, ma tutto; a little bit, but of everything”—and 104-year-old Maria Rosa Caruso, who, despite failing health, regaled her visitors with a lively version of a song about the local patron saint. On the ride back to the laboratory in Cosenza, Berardelli remarked, “They often say they prefer to eat only fruits and vegetables.” “They preferred fruit and vegetables,” Passarino said drily, “because that’s all they had.” Although eating sparingly may have been less a choice than an involuntary circumstance of poverty in places like early 20th-century Calabria, decades of research have suggested that a severely restricted diet is connected to long life. Lately, however, this theory has fallen on hard scientific times. Several recent studies have undermined the link between longevity and caloric restriction. In any case, Passarino was more interested in the centenarians themselves than in what they had eaten during their lifetimes. In a field historically marred by exaggerated claims and dubious entrepreneurs hawking unproven elixirs, scientists studying longevity have begun using powerful genomic technologies, basic molecular research, and, most important, data on small, genetically isolated communities of people to gain increased insight into the maladies of old age and how they might be avoided. In Calabria, Ecuador, Hawaii, and even in the Bronx, studies are turning up molecules and chemical pathways that may ultimately help everyone reach an advanced age in good, even vibrant, health. That began to change in 2005, when Valter Longo, a cell biologist at the University of Southern California who studies aging,
invited Guevara to USC to describe his research. A decade earlier Longo had begun to manipulate the genes of simple orga nisms like single-celled yeast, creating mutations that allowed them to live longer. The reasons for this varied. Some mutants could repair their DNA more effectively than normal cells; others demonstrated a heightened ability to minimize the damage from oxidants. Still others became better able to derail the type of DNA damage that would promote cancer in humans. Others were studying the sa me processes. In 1996 Andrzej Bartke, a scientist at Southern Illinois University, tinkered with mouse genes that a re involved with growth. He showed—not surprisingly—that shutting down the growth hormone pathway resulted in smaller mice. What was surprising was that they lived longer—about 40 percent longer—than normal mice. Could similar processes be at work in humans? Could genetic anomalies protect against diseases of age? Zvi Laron, the Israeli endocrinologist who in 1966 first described the dwarfism that came to be named after him, had found dozens of people scattered through central and eastern Europe with the rare syndrome. Longo thought Guevara’s patients might represent an experiment of nature—an isolated population with a condition that linked genetics to longevity.
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O N B E YO N D 1 0 0
W E S T WO O D
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W E S T WO O D
Let’s get our lazy old asses out to the streets and beyond
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IT’S A PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE
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A guide to the homes of our muses
W E S T WO O D
IRIS APFEL AND HER MANHATTAN APPARTEMENT
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Iris Barrel Apfel—fashion muse, decorator, and cofounder of Old World Weavers—wearing Chado Ralph Rucci and jewelry of her own design in the New York City apartment she shares with her husband, Carl. The living room’s bleached-oak boiserie is 18th-century French, and the door hardware is by P. E. Guerin; the screen is also French, while the chair at left, covered in an Old World Weavers tapestry fabric, is 17th-century Sicilian.
E S S E N T I A L G U I D E T O S U M M E R WA L L PA P E R S
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KIM GORDON AND HER NORTHAMPTON “TORTURE CHAMBER”
Kim Gordon’s 103-year-old house is stuffed full of esoterica arranged with ramshackle artistry: a Buffy the Vampire Slayer board game lies atop the dining-room table, a DIY poster dedicated to punk provocateur Richard Hell stands in the entryway and No Wave memorabilia shares space with photos of Gordon’s daughter Coco goofing around with Sofia Coppola.
W E S T WO O D
TREND THREE NOSTALGIA
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It was a cold and rainy Saturday in New York when I got the crazy idea to escape south for a day. Eight hours later, I arrived at Beatrix Ost and Ludwig Kuttner’s incredible Estouteville Farm outside Charlottesville, Virgina. Painted trees, mystical wooden caves, and fields of daffodils filled my gaze as I entered their magical property. Beatrix and a gang of wagging dogs greeted me with hugs and kisses before setting out on a tour of the magnificent grounds. Less than 24 hours later I was back on the road, left with artful memories of an enchanted evening.
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Upcycling Project
H&A favourite Annie Sloan recently visited an exhibition of work by early 20th-century painter and etcher Paul Klee - and it inspired her to paint a number of Klee-inspired pieces, such as this chest of drawers.
W E S T WO O D
1.
Find a chest with close fitting drawers to upcycle - junk shops and auction houses are good places to look.
Paint the frame with a dark shade of chalk paint. We chose ‘Graphite’.
2.
Starting with the bottom drawer, make gradual colour gradations using the two colours. For the bottom drawer we used ‘Greek Blue’ on its own, for the next drawer up we mixed in a small amount of ‘Barcelona Orange’ and so on, finishing with ‘Barcelona Orange’ on its own for the top drawer.
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3.
Select two complementary colours for the top and bottom drawers. We opted for ‘Barcelona Orange’ and ‘Greek Blue’.
4.
W H Y YO U ’ R E N E V E R T O O O L D T O T R AV E L
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Why you're never too old to
O T E G AN A R T R When we read about travel it’s usually stories from backpackers - the adventurous, 20 something kids who just graduated, and haven’t yet started working full time.
However, these days, older travelers are sometimes outdoing the backpacking crowd when it comes to adventure, and while you’re sure to see some of them on bus tours, you’ll also find them distributed around the globe, roughing it in hostels, and proudly ticking off items on their bucket lists like whitewater rafting, buggy jumping, and the Inca Trail. Travel has never been as cost-effective as it is today, or as attainable, and there is a huge variety of ways for older travellers to explore the world.
T U O D N EL V A LY E E R W E S T WO O D
Travel is easier than you think. Travel will always be challenging, which is also one of the many reasons why it is so rewarding. But there are so many different ways to travel, that even the most fussy traveler will find something that suits them - whether your ideal travel experience is relaxing on a cruise ship, or backpacking through Southeast Asia. Travellers can find a huge amount of information available both from travel agents, and online, along with a plethora of magazines and books like Lonely Planet and National Geographic Traveller.
It’s now simple to stay in touch with loved ones. The days when a phone call at Christmas would cost an arm and a leg, and a postcard would take months to arrive are long gone.
Long term travel is cheaper than staying at home. If you’re living in a Western country, you’re likely spending double to triple the amount you would traveling slowly through Southeast Asia or South America. When we look at what we spend on our rent or mortgage, food, childcare, and transport costs, we could easily travel or live overseas full time.
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Social media has made staying in contact with loved ones a breeze. Skype and FaceTime are perfect for cheap (and free) video calling, while Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook allow you to update your friends and family with your travel plans as soon as you make them.
W H Y YO U ’ R E N E V E R T O O O L D T O T R AV E L
N R U O J A F O E D H T N A S S N I U G E O B H L T G N I S
Travel companies are catering to older travellers.
The good news is, many travel companies are committed to giving older travellers the option to stay in decent accommodation, while also getting off the beaten path.
You should never stop learning.
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Just as you should never stop brushing your teeth or taking a shower, I believe that you should never stop learning. I tried to make learning something new a daily habit when I lived in my home country, but it’s much simpler to learn from the world around me in Asia than it is to learn from books while sitting at home.
There’s no expiration date on happiness.
At 95 years old, Australian backpacker Keith Wright has backpacked all throughout Europe, staying in hostels with other travelers who are in their twenties. He claims that he always had itchy feet, but he didn’t begin his world travels until 85 years old. If there is one thing the world’s oldest backpacker can teach us, it’s that there is no age limit or expiration date on happiness or dreams.
N
Y E
W E S T WO O D
S E L I M D HA P IT W E T S E L
You shouldn’t be afraid to make bold decisions for fear of a mistake. You’re never too old to make bold decisions. If your heart is tugging you in a direction, don’t quiet it because you’re afraid. Instead, trust your heart. You’re bound to make mistakes along the way, but it’s better to make mistakes while doing something you love.
The gains far outweigh the risk.
Once your nerves have settled, all you’ll see is the beauty in your decision.
Travel nourishes the spirit. You’ve read it everywhere because it’s true. Travel does something to a person. It changes them into a different person. It makes them more open, vulnerable, and somehow more loving. You begin to appreciate things you never thought twice about before, like geography, language, food, and culture. Traveling gives people the opportunity to appreciate more of the world.
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I’ve said it once and I’ll say it a thousand times. The hardest part is getting on that plane. After that moment when you’re buckled in your seat and your plane lifts off the ground, your mindset changes.
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JJ
W E S T WO O D
GRAB YOUR OWN!
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DOJO DHD DECK STYLE: DHS141D COLORTYPE: AST
BARGE DHD DECK STYLE: DHS142D COLORTYPE: AST
JAVELIN DHD DECK STYLE: DHS143D COLORTYPE: AST
Pockets created by Micro Drops that lock your feet in and keep you close to the trucks are just the start of what makes the Dojo amazing for all downhill applications. The Dojo might even teach you some new Kung Fu if you dedicate yourself to it.
There are no frills on the Barge. It has a job to do. The solid platform, CNC wheel wells and functional tail will have you stoked on keeping it simple.
Our downhill team spent untold hours modifying a nd twea king our traditional top-mount boards to develop the Javelin. Through these subtle, yet important, refinements we feel we have made the best top-mount to date.
Construction 9 Ply Cold Pressed Maple CNC Precision Cut Wheel Wells Ellipse Micro Drop Hourglass Taco Mold Dimensions 34.75” L x 9.75” W x 28.0” WB
Construction 9 Ply Cold Pressed Maple CNC Precision Cut Wheel Wells Rocker Drop Pocket Functional Kicktail Dimensions 36.0” L x 9.75” W x 24.0” WB
Construction 4 Plies Triaxial Fiberglass 3 Plies 0.125” Maple CNC Wheel Wells Football Taco Mold Dimensions 37.0” L x 9.75” W x 25.5”-29.25” WB
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Matilda
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94 A P VE S
Engine: Single cylinder 4 strokes with catalytic converter and electronic fuel injection, single overhead camshaft - 3 valves (2 intake, 1 exhaust) Consumption: 117 MPG Speed: 57 MPH MSRP: $10,499
A VE S P VE R A A PR I M 150
0 5 1 V LX
Engine: Single cylinder 4 strokes with catalytic converter and electronic fuel injection, single overhead camshaft - 3 valves (2 intake, 1 exhaust) Consumption: 117 MPG Speed: 57 MPH MSRP: $10,499
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Engine: Single cylinder 4 strokes with catalytic converter and electronic fuel injection, single overhead camshaft - 3 valves (2 intake, 1 exhaust) Consumption: 117 MPG Speed: 59 MPH MSRP: $4,899
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W E S T WO O D
The less there is to justify a traditional custom, the harder it is to get rid of it
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YOU CAN’T TROW AWAY TRADI TION
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W E S T WO O D
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hor osc ope
ARIES
LIBRA
(MAR 21ST - APR 20TH)
(SEPT 23RD - OCT 22ND)
A great period for you financially, but you may be less socially active. Be careful: the social status defines a woman! You cannot be a predator without powerful friends!
Mid-June you will get support from superiors and you will find a rise in energy and dynamism. You will achieve this overwhelming love for yourself that makes you feel like you can even fight a hurricane.
TAURUS (APR 21ST - MAY 20TH) Your career is progressing well – you will feel some personal growth. You will find some happiness in your social life, with a lot of very positive reunions with friends and family in sight.
GEMINI (MAY 21ST - JUN 21ST)
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Creativity and spirituality will be present in your new outlook. This month is your lucky month: dare to try new experiences!
CANCER (JUN 22ND - JUL 22ND) A great deal of challenges for you this month. Say something nasty to the challenges and send them away with grace – say hello to a new and better you!
LEO (JUL 23RD - AUG 22ND) Buy yourself a new outfit – indulge yourself a little. Go crazy with colors and don’t be afraid of any weird combinations!
VIRGO (AUG 23RD - SEPT 22ND) This month is a positive period for your love life and relationships. Although, keep in mind – rock’n’roll can also be done in groups or pairs so bring your loved ones in!
SCORPIO (OCT 23RD - NOV 21ST) This month is the time to stand up for yourself and rebel hard when something is not to your liking. Mid-March is when your creative energies will come to the fore. Be ready!
SAGITTARIUS (NOV 23RD - DEC 22ND) This is a month of high energy and creativity for you. As long as you are positive, nothing can stop you!
CAPRICORN (DEC 22ND - JAN 19TH) Go and take out your dancing shoes, as you are going to own every dancefloor this month! Feel good in your body as your body is your temple.
AQUARIUS (JAN 20TH – FEB 18TH) Point randomly on a map with your finger – that is where you are going! This is the month for being spontaneous and adventurous!
I DON’T HAVE FAITH IN YOUNG PEOPLE ANY MORE
Nature gives you the face you have at twenty; it is up to you to merit the face you have at fifty. — Coco Chanel